After watching the Rogers and Hammerstien musical Cinderella perhaps one too many times, I got the germ of a scenario idea. So far, I've got a setup and some NPCs but am not sure where to go from here. Suggestions appreciated.
Cinderella: Reloaded
Or
Death Wore A Glass Slipper
By Kevin Scrivner
Briefing
Forget lizards and mice. The player-characters, all special ops types, have been assigned to escort Cinderella’s carriage into the palace. Intelligence reports have indicated that enemies of the kingdom plan to assassinate the royal family at the Prince’s grand ball tonight. The plot was discovered 15 minutes before the ball was scheduled to begin. It is impossible to cancel the event at this late date, since the Queen is determined to hold it and the rebellious Prince is equally determined that this will be the last “meat market party” he will consent to participate in. The King has ordered that the rest of the royal family not be informed of the rumored plot, since such knowledge would inevitably disrupt the proceedings and possibly cause diplomatic repercussions with foreign dignitaries and their hopeful princesses. The palace guard has been alerted, however. The team commandeered the last carriage allowed to enter the palace grounds, a gaudy affair, expelling the rather strange-looking coachman and footmen. The hit is supposed to occur sometime before midnight.
Mission
Protect the royal family; protect the guests as possible; detect and eliminate the assassin or assassins with extreme prejudice; avoid causing an international incident. The PCs may be equipped with whatever super spy skills and gear the GM will allow. Despite the early 19th century nature of the kingdom, they are the special team, after all.
Persons of Interest
Princess X
She has an invitation to the ball but her name is not on the guest list. It doesn’t matter, since her name and identity are unknown. Princess X was a late arrival. Is she an assassin? But surely an assassin would have planned to be in place well ahead of time.
Prince Christopher seems smitten with her; it will be hard to place a female agent near him as a dance partner.
Options:
Princess X is Cinderella, Lady Amesworth’s rarely seem stepdaughter, a lovely and good natured girl seeking a way out of a bad family situation. Despite her mother’s efforts to the contrary, she’s managed to make it to the ball and has no agenda other than having a good time. She can’t help but be delighted that the Prince has taken such an interest in her.
Princess X is Cinderella, whose resentment against her abusive mother has blossomed into a general hatred of the kingdom’s nobility. She’s been recruited by the republican faction to get close to the Prince and to casually spray him with a small perfume vial. She hasn’t been told what the vial contains. Despite her political views, she can’t help but be flattered by the Prince’s attentions.
Princess X is an agent of Duke Esparza, hastily substituted at the last moment for Cinderella, who was grabbed by foreign agents within the palace itself and stuffed (shaken but unharmed) into a cloakroom. Known only as “The Black Countess,” the agent is an experienced killer for hire, skilled at making a hit look like illness or accident and at getting out of the way before the victim collapses.
Count Bartholomew
The King’s younger brother has been in retirement since Prince Christopher’s birth. There are some suspicions that he has funded attempts by republican agitators to get the kingdom to adopt a constitution. Protest leaders have been arrested but with no proof of the Count’s involvement.
Lady Amesworth
Elevated to the nobility by her marriage to a minor aristocrat, Lady Amesworth has been involved in numerous intrigues while trying to promote the fortunes of herself and her two daughters. She reportedly has a stepdaughter, child of the deceased Lord Amesworth, but the girl has rarely been seen in public.
Duke Esparza
Diplomat from a rival kingdom, Esparza has been negotiating trade and non-aggression treaties with the King’s chancellor. The Duke is suspected of being a spy (he is). His daughter is one of the princesses in attendance at the ball.